Okay, you've heard about "so-bad-it's-good" movies before, but this demented little thing plays in an entirely different league. "The Terror Within" is so bad it's
.really, truly freaking abysmally bad! It's a cheesy and minimally plotted 80's earthbound "Alien" imitation and it's produced by Roger Corman, so that ought to give you an immediate idea about the overall quality of this production. You may prepare yourself for the worst, and then still "The Terror Within" will surpass your most cautious expectations. This is one of them films that gives you absolutely no feedback or background about anything that happens before, during and after the main events in the plot. The script even fails to inform what year the events take place in, what kind of company the 6 protagonists work for or how the breed of gargoyles developed itself so rapidly. All we know is that some kind of "accident" wiped out 99% of the earth's population and that the few remaining survivors on the surface are continuously threatened by gargoyle-creatures. Six people in a subterranean laboratory, led by the poor & desperate-for-work George Kennedy, attempt to save what's left of humanity, but they clearly don't have a clue what they're up against. Unaware of the fact that the gargoyles mate with regular females, they take a pregnant girl into their lair and numbly observe how she gives birth (in a sequence shamelessly copied from Ridley Scott's milestone) to a ravenous and fast-growing monster. Now they're all trapped underneath the earth, with two remaining female employees as potential monster-mommies. Admittedly, the plot description for "The Terror Within" doesn't sound half as bad as initially feared, but honestly the film is stuffed with plot-holes the size of the Grand Canyon, laughably inane dialogs, poor acting performances and tiny stupid oddities that are almost too amusing for words. Here's a brief listing of all the crazy stuff occurring in this film (extra spoiler warning).
1)The gargoyles may be tall and strong, but apparently they're quite terrible in the sack. The monster only was a few nanoseconds alone with the girl, but it clearly was more than enough to impregnate her. 2)Actually, the monsters look a bit like an over-sized version of Duckman. 3)The hero (Andrew Stevens) is obviously more upset when his dog gets injured than when his black colleague and even his girlfriend get torn to pieces. 4) Presumably the film is set in the future, but technology appears to have taken a huge step backwards. The characters operate the largest walkie-talkies you've ever seen and the only exit out the subterranean lab is through a ramshackle shed. 5) At a certain point, the remaining survivors try to attack the creature by blowing on a dog whistle. I guess their next move would have been to throw a banana peel in front of its feet. 6)The film probably just took a few days to shoot; still I think George Kennedy had other, more urgent places to go to. Halfway the story his character just vanishes after an idiotic kamikaze run into the creature. Still, you don't actually see him die so you expect him to return at some point. Guess again.
Strangely enough, and despite the rather cheesy & tacky monster designs, the killings are pleasingly gruesome and blood-soaked. The aforementioned birth-sequence may be very unoriginal; at least it's suitably repulsive and even mildly shocking. The finale is effective as well, since the gargoyle meets his death in a rather nasty fashion. As if you couldn't guess yourself, "The Terror Within" is an awfully crappy 80's cheeseball, definitely worthy of the Roger Corman label. It could be considered "entertaining", but you'd have to be in the right mood.
1)The gargoyles may be tall and strong, but apparently they're quite terrible in the sack. The monster only was a few nanoseconds alone with the girl, but it clearly was more than enough to impregnate her. 2)Actually, the monsters look a bit like an over-sized version of Duckman. 3)The hero (Andrew Stevens) is obviously more upset when his dog gets injured than when his black colleague and even his girlfriend get torn to pieces. 4) Presumably the film is set in the future, but technology appears to have taken a huge step backwards. The characters operate the largest walkie-talkies you've ever seen and the only exit out the subterranean lab is through a ramshackle shed. 5) At a certain point, the remaining survivors try to attack the creature by blowing on a dog whistle. I guess their next move would have been to throw a banana peel in front of its feet. 6)The film probably just took a few days to shoot; still I think George Kennedy had other, more urgent places to go to. Halfway the story his character just vanishes after an idiotic kamikaze run into the creature. Still, you don't actually see him die so you expect him to return at some point. Guess again.
Strangely enough, and despite the rather cheesy & tacky monster designs, the killings are pleasingly gruesome and blood-soaked. The aforementioned birth-sequence may be very unoriginal; at least it's suitably repulsive and even mildly shocking. The finale is effective as well, since the gargoyle meets his death in a rather nasty fashion. As if you couldn't guess yourself, "The Terror Within" is an awfully crappy 80's cheeseball, definitely worthy of the Roger Corman label. It could be considered "entertaining", but you'd have to be in the right mood.